Bathe in Oblivion
by RecarDragonlance
Summary: In the centre of Cyrodiil, a man destined to change the world is released. At the same time, Sulia, a vampire, is reunited with her two outcast companions. Can these two men show her the way to redemption or will they send her to Oblivion?


Prologue: Our Blood on their Sands

The sea brushed against the banks just outside the city of Anvil. They crashed onto the rocks then slivered away as if they wanted nothing to do with the actions occurring on the coast. On the floor, nineteen-year-old Sulia lay on the floor, her breath growing heavier: her blood-red eyes were fixated on the horizon. Creeping over the sea was the sun, its light beginning to fend away the darkness of the previous night. This sight made Sulia sick to her stomach.

There was nothing she could do – the magic wrapped around so tight she thought that her skin might break under the pressure. Looming over her stood a man in a long dark cloak which concealed all of his body except his face and his one outstretched hand. Vicious crimson eyes beat down on the girl as he funnelled the magic around her. His wrinkled skin broke into a faint smile, staring while she tried to struggle in vain out of his restraints.

"You should have listened when Theron was teaching you about magic..." He grumbled, his voice nothing more than deep beats. "A dispel spell would break these chains but... you wouldn't know how to do that, would you?"

"When the sun comes out you'll die too!" Sulia only managed a high-pitched squeak as more weight pushed down on her from all angles.

The smirk on his face grew larger, cracks of dry skin beginning to crumble onto the floor. "My orders are to kill you, so that's what I'm going to do. Theron won't be happy if you somehow... squirm out of my grasp. I've been hunting you for so long, it's getting tiresome."

Sparkles of light reflected of the water, touching the black skin which wasn't concealed by her chainmail armour. Little embers of pain shot up and down her body – suddenly all her nerves turned on fire. The sun continued its accent, the pure light beaming out onto the land. More glare shone onto her and more pain exploded in her body. She screamed, attempting to roll around in pain.

Through squinted eyes, she stared at the man. The light touched his body yet nothing happened. He stood in broad daylight but his body remained intact. Seeing the confusion on her face made the smirk too large for his face control. A dry, deep snigger released itself from his dusty lungs.

"A spell Theron had put on me before I set out... You don't think I'd be so silly to sacrifice myself when we're on the verge of a new age?" He shot out another pale, crumbling hand, grabbing hold of the black, straw-like ponytail. With one tug, he lifted Sulia to her feet. "Now it's time to face your damnation!"

As he was about to exhale another disgusting snigger, he whaled out in pain. His momentary lapse in concentration was enough for Sulia: with one burst of strength, she expelled her magical energy outwards. The binds entangling her broke and she jumped to her feet. An arrow ran through his black cloak – completely black in the wood until the end, which was polished silver. Before Sulia could smile, the sun's rays beat down on her so hard she had to sprint away.

There was a tree not far away which she jumped behind. From here, she could see the actions of the man clearly as well as the people who approached him. The first, coming over the hill which lead to Anvil, was a tall Nord man. Gripped in his hand was a silver claymore. Then, coming back out from where he hid was a small Dunmer with black hair that stopped in his shoulders. He carried an Elven bow with an Elven dagger on his belt.

The Nord's long brunette hair bounced from side to side as he galloped towards the cloaked man. The cloaked man didn't flinch: he merely raised his hand, muttering things under his breath. First, emerald waves of energy wrapped around himself. Next, fire energy ran up his arm until it blasted out. A fire ball the size of an imp shot out, exploding right into the Nord. He flew backwards, rolling on the floor.

"Marelus!" Sulia managed to scream, though she felt all her energy drain away quicker. The sun was still there, stealing everything away from her.

"A Vampire using fire spells?" The Dark Elf said as he ran to Sulia's side.

He ruffled through his quiver of arrows, hastening as he saw the man loom over the Nord. As soon as he felt the arrow, his hands moved in a blur. Drawing the arrow and shooting it took seconds. However, it met an invisible shield, breaking on contact in another explosion of flame. Cursing, he turned to Sulia.

"Gonra... I haven't seen you in so long." She reached out her hand, the light weighing her down.

"You were the one who left. Come on, let's go."

She shook her head. "No! Help... Help Marelus!"

The Nord's blade swung at the man's feet. The man jumped back in a dodge of surprising nimbleness. Marelus didn't give up: pressing himself up, he swung his sword at him. Each mighty blow was evaded in the same swift way. Marelus was strong like a minotaur; the man was fast like a wolf. The one thing he held above Marelus was his magical powers – after dodging another mighty blow, he touched the blade, casting some spell down the blade. When Marelus tried to rise his sword, he found it was too heavy. Clenching his two old hands together the man fed energy into the air around him before unleashing his grip, which sent a wave of air at the man.

The Nord flew all the way back so he was a few feet from the cave. Getting up, he glared at the man. "What the hell do you want with her?"

"I could ask you the same questions," he bellowed, raising his hands into the air. His black sleeves fell down his arms, revealing wrinkled, sagging arms. Emerald energy – a deeper emerald unlike other alteration spells - poured down his arms, releasing itself through his palms. The energy curled around him, shrouding his body in the emerald light. "I suppose, if Sulia lives, we will be seeing a lot of each other. Unfortunately, I have felt a shift in the wind. Something both terrible and magnificent has happened, both at the same time. You shall feel the effect of this first hand."

The light encasing his body grew brighter until it was too intense to look at. With one last smirk, his body imploded. He was gone. Sulia, twisted onto her side and closed her eyes. The noise of the world swirled around: the panicked voices of her old companions, the brushing of the sea, the song of birds in the morning. All crammed together into a blur sound. Soon the blur fell away into nothing. Soon, everything turned into nothing,

Unconsciousness swept her away.


End file.
